How Classroom Colors Affect Learning

We all have favorite colors, the ones we prefer to wear, live in and surround ourselves with on a daily basis. Did you know that colors might also influence learning?

Research has shown that exposure to certain colors affects students’ cognitive and emotional behavior. How you choose to use colors in your classroom can impact your students.

Rainbow Colors

The bright colors of the rainbow are often featured in elementary school and preschool classrooms. Having visual reminders of the colors helps build fundamental learning skills. Colors are one of the first lessons children learn in their educational career and it is rainbow colors that are usually featured.

While color preference varies by individual, each color of the rainbow has common connotations attached to it.

• Red – Love, energy, strength, anger, intensity. Young children are often drawn to the color red because of its connection with excitement. Pops of red in a classroom are a great way to add a bold, fun touch, but too much red can cause a class to become too energized for learning.
• Orange – Confidence, friendliness, alertness, caution. Orange is a nice mixture of the two warm primary colors, red and yellow. It is not as intense as red and not as glaring as yellow, creating a warm, friendly atmosphere. Orange can be overpowering unless used with cool or neutral colors.
• Yellow – Happiness, encouragement, teamwork, silliness, irritability. Yellow is the color most associated with happiness and its presence in a classroom can create a feeling of togetherness and friendship. Excessive yellow can be overpowering and tiring on the eyes, resulting in irritability.
• Green – Nature, freshness, calmness, envy, boredom. Exposure to nature is important to developing minds and classrooms decorated in the color green can have some of the same positive effects. Green has also been shown to boost attention span when compared to neutral colors. Too much green can create feelings of boredom and tiredness.
• Blue – Relaxing, trustfulness, peace, dependability, boredom, sadness. Blue is one of the most popular colors in classroom design. It pairs well with almost any other color and when its value is changed, it can provoke a wide variety of reactions. For example, dark blue takes on a neutral tone while light blue is soft and airy. Excessive use of blue in the classroom can bring on feelings of sadness and depression.
• Purple – Luxury, loyalty, uniqueness, arrogance, sadness. Using pops of purple in a classroom can make certain areas feel extra special, like a designated reading chair or carpet squares. When used as the dominant color in a classroom, purple can feel overpowering and bring about feelings of sadness.

Earthtone Colors

Earthtone colors are becoming increasingly popular in classrooms from preschool to college. When enjoying the benefits of nature isn’t possible, bringing the hues of the great outdoors into your classroom is an excellent option. Earthtone colors include varying shades of brown, green and brown, mimicking earth, plants and water. Nature-based colors reduce stress, allowing for better concentration and visual processing.

Some may find earthtone colors to be too monotonous for young students. It is also difficult to incorporate other colors into an earthtone theme.

Gray Tones

Like in current interior design, gray is becoming a popular base color in today’s classrooms. School furniture manufacturers are now often offering their popular wood-tone tables and desks in gray finishes to meet customer demands.

Incorporating gray into a design lessens the effects of other colors. For example, red might be an overpowering color on its own but when used sparingly with a gray base, adds the ideal amount of energy and excitement.

Gray is most often seen in Makerspace, high school and college classrooms.

Find More Color Ideas

Check out our Pinterest page for more ideas on how to create a color scheme in your classroom. Our sales team is also happy to assist you. Give us a call at (877) 839-3330.